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For Immediate Release	                       November 9, 1998

William Sloane Coffin Returns to Lawrence For Address on Civility, Democracy


     APPLETON, WIS. -- For nearly 40 years, Rev. William Sloane Coffin has
reveled in the role of one of the most recognizable voices of America's
conscience, speaking up whenever and wherever he detected injustice.
     The renowned peace activist and former visiting professor of religious
studies at Lawrence University returns to the Appleton campus Thursday, Nov.
19 to deliver the convocation "Civility, Democracy and Multiculturalism," at
11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Coffin's address is free and
open to the public.
     In his address, Coffin will examine democracy less as a form of
government and more as a way of life and offer a definition of civility
based on the "very profound ethic of caring."
     Diversity, according to Coffin, "may be the hardest thing to live with
and the hardest thing to live without," adding that Americans fear their
differences more than they celebrate them.  
     The former chaplain at Yale University, Coffin first rose to prominence
during the 1960s as a leader in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War
movements.  Calling himself a "Christian revolutionary," Coffin gained
national attention as one of seven "Freedom Riders" arrested and convicted
in 1961 in Montgomery, Ala., while protesting local segregation laws.  
     During the height of the anti-war movement, Coffin co-founded the
organization Clergy and Laity Concerned about Vietnam and began offering the
sanctuary of his Yale chapel to men who refused to serve in Vietnam.  He
helped organized a rally in Boston in which 944 young men turned in their
draft cards, for which he was arrested for, and convicted of, conspiracy.
The conviction was later overturned on appeal.
     After leaving Yale, Coffin was appointed senior minister of New York's
Riverside Church, where he founded the church's acclaimed Disarmament
Program, for which he traveled around the world promoting international
peace and human rights.
     In 1979, Coffin was one of four clergymen invited by Iran's ruling
Revolutionary Council to celebrate Christmas services with the American
hostages held at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran.
     From 1987-90, he served as president of SANE/FREEZE: Campaign for
Global Security, the largest peace and justice organization in the U.S. 
     His autobiography, "Once to Every Man," was published in 1977.  He also
wrote the books, "The Courage to Love," and "Living the Truth in a World of
Illusions," and his latest book, "A Passion for the Possible," was released
in 1993.
     Coffin spent the 1995-97 academic years as Lawrence's Stephen Edward
Scarff distinguished visiting professor of religious studies and he returned
to campus in the spring of 1998 to teach the class, "Christian Faith and
Social Ethics."